Inequality makes world vulnerable to pandemics

High inequality makes the world vulnerable to pandemics and creates a vicious cycle that puts public health and economies at risk, leading economists, health experts and the United Nations said Monday.

- 

The findings were based on two years of research by the UNAIDS-convened Global Council on Inequality, AIDS and Pandemics and published in a report released ahead of meetings of G20 leaders in South Africa this month.

"High levels of inequality, within and between countries, are making the world more vulnerable to pandemics, making pandemics more economically disruptive and deadly, and making them last longer," the report said.

"Pandemics in turn increase inequality, driving the cyclical, self-reinforcing relationship," it said.

The council that produced the report was led by experts including Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, former Namibia First Lady Monica Geingos and renowned epidemiologist Sir Michael Marmot.